Art&Seek Jr: Cool Summer Camps You Won’t Want To Miss

Check out the Junior’s list of cool summer camps. They’re guaranteed to keep the lazy-days of summer from being too lazy.

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Art&Seek Jr. is one mom‘s quest to find activities to end the seemingly endless chorus of the “I’m Bored Blues” while having fun herself. Impossible you say? Check back on Tuesdays for kid-friendly events that are fun for adults, too.

It’s hard to believe, but another school year is just about over. It seems like just yesterday we were picking out new shoes, backpacks and supplies; and now here it is only 8 short days until the lazy-hazy days of summer commences.

Short day camps are a great way to break up the summer and add some enrichment. There are a whole slew of summer camps out there (check out the kids and family category on the Art&Seek calendar for ideas). Here are a few worth checking out.

Got a budding thespian? The Art Centre Theatre located in West Plano has a wide variety of theater camps for all ages. Kids can learn a craft and then put on a show. You can choose half-day camps like the My Little Pony or Hercules camps. Besides being fun, a percentage of the ticket sales for the end-of-camp show are donated to a no-kill animal shelter. If you have a kid wanting to stretch their theater skills a bit farther, day-long camps like Annie Junior are also available.

Junior Players also offers fantastic theater camps and best of all, they’re free! Their Discover Theater camps are open to kids 7 to 14 from the residential neighborhoods near participating Dallas recreation centers. During the two-week sessions professional artists from the Dallas community work with the students in daily two-hour classes. Kids learn about the various aspects of performing and theater arts specifically. Children will play theater games, learn improvisation techniques and develop a presentation for The Festival of Plays, a culminating production at the end of the camp.

Have a rock-n-roll summer! (photo Oil and Cotton)

For little campers who love the great outdoors Camp Cedar Hill at the Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center at Cedar Hill is just the ticket. Kids 6-12 can spend 8 weeks exploring the canyon through art, technology, animal encounters and more. My favorite is Week 3, where little explorers get to pack their binoculars, notepad and camera and search for animal habitats in the canyon.

If you want something a little different try Studio Bella in Lakewood on for size. Their week-long camps are a grab bag of all sorts of fun activities. Everything from pottery to gardening is offered, but my personal favorite is the Star Wars camp. Kids get to create a stormtrooper helmet and minifigs out of all sorts of materials. Think of the neat-o artwork for the fridge you’ll get out of it.

And speaking of different, Oil and Cotton in Oak Cliff is also offering boatloads of unique camps for your munchkins this summer. Be sure to check out their Songwriting camp where kids 7-18 get to form their own bands and then write, rehearse and record a single. They’ll get the opportunity to learn about songwriting by working with professionals in the industry and score a band t-shirt, CD cover and a band photo.

As always, time and camp registration waits for no one, so get the little kiddles signed up today or your summer might end up being a bit too lazy.

Therese Powell is an Art&Seek calendar coordinator and KERA-TV producer. She spends most of her free time seeking out adventures for her 9-year-old daughter, Rose. Tell us about your ideas for quirky kid adventures by leaving a comment. Or e-mail Therese at [email protected].

Therese Powell is a KERA producer and calendar coordinator for Art&Seek. She’s a regular contributor to the Art&Seek web site and writes the weekly feature Art&Seek Jr., a guide for family-friendly events and quirky kid adventures in the DFW area. View more about Therese Powell.